


Proposals

by SneetchesToo



Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Family, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-10-30 05:56:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20809661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SneetchesToo/pseuds/SneetchesToo
Summary: The four times Ethan proposes to Leanne and she says ‘no’.And the one time she says ‘yes’.





	Proposals

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pretty_bird](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pretty_bird/gifts), [misswritingobsessed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/misswritingobsessed/gifts).

> *This idea popped into my head and I couldn’t get it out, so here you have it. I hope everyone enjoys! <3

The first time Ethan asks Leanne to marry him they're in the middle of a rather passionate make out session in the shower.

His hands are in her hair and hers are trying their best to get a grip on his back.

He pulls away for a split second, his lips finding the sweet spot on her neck as he mumbles the words against her soaked skin.

"Marry me?" The words are soft and simple and sweet and everything they should be.

But Leanne is thrown and she pulls away from him just enough to see his eyes.

They're full of all the right emotions and she can see the love radiating there.

And yet, she can't give him the response he wants.

"No." She knows it's matter of a fact.

She knows it isn't what he wants to hear.

But this isn't the time and this isn't the place and she can't just give him that piece of her heart on such a whim.

"Why not?" He's giving her a look that says he knows damn well why not.

But he isn't one to just let something like this go.

"It's been 6 months." She really shouldn't have to give him an explanation and yet here she is.

"We've known each other for 5 years." Like she could forget.

The moment they met had been burned into the back of her mind for the rest of eternity.

He had saved her life, literally and figuratively. 

And while she had pushed herself to not let the memory of her accident consume her, sometimes she went there and it destroyed her.

"Ethan..." He knew damn good and well why she wouldn't say 'yes'.

Or at least she hoped he knew.

Six months together wasn't nearly long enough to warrant a marriage proposal.

And proposing in the shower while they actually had five minutes of peace wasn't how she wanted to start her life with him.

"Okay." She expected more of a fight, but instead he moved his lips from her neck to her chest and it was like the whole thing never happened.

\--

The second time Ethan proposes to Leanne is 6 months later. It's a few days after their first anniversary and while she probably should've expected it, she was just as shocked this time as she was the first.

"Marry me?" His question sends a tingle down her spine and she stops stirring the spaghetti sauce long enough to shoot him a look.

He's leaning against the kitchen counter, the puppy they swore they weren't going to get snuggled in his arms.

He's in sweats and an Army t-shirt and he hasn't shaved in a few days.

The perks of vacation she guesses.

"No." She turns back to dinner, her eyes shifting toward the back door, searching the yard for two heads of brown curls.

She hears him sigh as he sets Rex down, the puppy's claws clicking on the floor as he runs to the den. 

"Why not?" He doesn't need to know the real reason does he?

"It's not the right time." She turns back toward him and his arms are crossed over his chest as he raises an eyebrow at her.

She expects him to retort back.

To say something sarcastic or heartfelt.

But instead he just drops his arms and shuffles toward the sliding glass doors, opening them and stepping out onto the deck without another word.

She hopes she hasn't made him mad but she also hopes that he understands.

She can't say 'yes'.

The time isn't right.

Not for her. Not for him. And certainly not for their children.

\--

The third time Ethan proposes to Leanne they're standing at the nurse's station waiting for charts.

Mario cracks a joke about his patient's fiancé being a pain and Ethan shoots her a look as the younger man walks away.

She wants to tell him not to bother, but she can't help herself.

"Marry me?" He whispers, his eyes having returned to his chart as he scribbles something down.

She sighs as she stares at him, a curious expression on her face as she waits for someone to say something.

But then she realizes no one else is around.

"No." She hesitates just slightly and she wonders if there will ever be a time when she doesn't hesitate, but for a completely different reason.

"Why not?" He lets out a sigh that sounded more like it came from her 7 year old son and not a man in his early forties.

"Do we really have to do this here?" She wishes that he would just stop asking all together but she knows he won't.

She knows he'll ask until he gets the answer he wants.

"Are you ever gonna say 'yes'?" The pout on his face and the twinkle in his eye is more indicative of his 7 year old daughter than it is of him and she can't help but chuckle.

"Maybe." Ariel had asked her the same question the other day.

She guessed the teen was more in tune with their relationship than she was.

And given the fact that she had only been with them for 6 months said a lot.

"Pleeeaase?" Dragging out his question did nothing but make her roll her eyes and she shook her head as she reached out and squeezed his hand.

"No." She said simply.

And then she was grabbing her files and walking away.

She felt her heart start to pound in her chest and she wondered just how much longer he would keep asking before he gave up.

\--

The fourth time Ethan asks Leanne to marry him they're tangled up in the sheets of their bed, their hands wandering, their lips hot and heavy against each other's skin.

They had dumped the "twins" with Jesse and Ariel was with a friend for the night and it was the first time in their two years of being together that they had a completely child free house.

They had made plans to go out to dinner to celebrate their anniversary.

They were going to get all dressed up and have a few drinks and maybe even go dancing.

But then Ethan had interrupted her mid shower and instead they had collapsed into bed and they hadn't left for four hours.

"Marry me?" He asked softly, his fingers fluttering over her hip as he did his best to pull her closer.

She closed her eyes as she clung to him, her whole body shuddering as waves of pleasure raced through her.

"No." She huffed out her response as he ran his tongue along her neck.

He let out a whimper and she wasn't sure if it was because of the sex or her answer to his favorite question.

She felt her body give in to him and she bit down on her bottom lip as she saw stars.

"I love you." He whispered against her ear, his fingers trailing over her waist as he moved his hand back up to her hair.

"And I love you too." She whispered back, her eyes opening as she trailed a hand down his back.

"So why won't you marry me?" He dropped his forehead to hers with a sigh, his body relaxing on top of hers as he did his best to calm his nerves.

"We don't need to be married Ethan." She knew it sounded bad.

She knew it was no excuse.

She loved him more than she had ever loved anyone else, including her late husband.

But she couldn't bring herself to become his wife.

"But I wanna be married." He whined out, his eyes closing for a second as he pulled from within her and rolled onto the bed.

She knew he was getting tired of her saying 'no'. 

And part of her was tired of saying it.

"I know." She knew it was silly.

They had been together for 2 years and they had known each other for 7. 

They loved each other's kids like their own and if anyone asked, they were more siblings then Eli had ever been with his biological sister.

And while Grace had never known her brother, she knew that Ethan had been thankful for Eli to fill that void.

They were a family.

Her and Ethan and Grace and Eli and now Ariel.

They had a beautiful house and two dogs and a mini van.

They didn't need rings on their fingers to make them anything more.

"What happens if I stop asking?" He was staring at the ceiling, his arms flat against the mattress beside him.

"Then I'll stop saying 'no'." Her reply was harsher than she expected and she instantly regretted it.

So she rolled over onto her side and snuggled up against him, her lips pressing against his chest softly.

"I really do wanna marry you." He whispered into the dark.

"I know." And she did know.

She knew he wanted that official title of Mr and Mrs.

She knew he wanted a ring on her finger and a matching band on his.

She knew how badly he wanted their children to all have the same last name.

And to be honest, so did she.

But it just wasn't the right time.

And she didn't know if it ever would be.

\--

The fifth time Ethan proposes to Leanne their on vacation in Maine.

The kids had a break from school and they both finally decided to cash in on all the vacation time they had built up over the years.

So they had booked a flight and rented a condo on the beach.

She had been expecting a random proposal, or three, from him since she had turned him down that night in bed.

But a whole year had passed and he hadn't made any more mention to getting married.

Not even when she told him she was pregnant.

And not even when they had failed to find a heartbeat at her 20 week appointment.

Instead he had held her close as she cried all night.

And then they had moved on and returned to normal living and for once she had been thankful for his desire to just carry on.

But he hadn't made any mention of a wedding since then.

And she was starting to wonder if he ever would.

"Let's take a walk." He said softly, his hand reaching out for hers as he stood from his spot on the front steps of their rental property.

"Okay." She turned back to make sure the kids wouldn't miss them, but Ariel just simply shrugged and Grace and Eli didn't pay her any mind.

She guessed that eight year olds weren't too interested in walks these days.

"Kids?" But apparently Ethan wanted everyone to go together.

So she watched as Eli and Grace bounded down the steps, Ariel wrapping the blanket she had been folding around her shoulders, and then Ethan was taking her hand and leading her down the walkway with slow, careful steps.

She was shocked that the kids had agreed so easily.

She was shocked that Ethan hadn't made a big deal out of it.

But what shocked her even more was what happened after they had made their way down to the shore.

The "twins" hadn't run off to play.

Ariel hadn't muttered anything about them being lame.

Instead they had stayed close by, small smiles on their faces as she shifted her eyes between the four people standing in front of her.

The four most important people in the world.

The four people who had worked so hard to make her whole again.

And then it happened.

Ethan reached in his pocket and pulled out a black velvet box and he got down on one knee in front of her with a giant grin on his face.

"Leanne Marie Rorish..." She felt like time had stopped around them, her heart racing in her chest as she tried to control her breathing. "Will you please make me an honest man and marry me?"

She felt the tears hit her face before she knew what was happening and she let out a gasp when he opened the box to reveal the most beautiful ring she had ever seen.

"Please mom?" Eli's little voice was so soft and she could see the joy in his eyes.

She knew that he loved Ethan more than anything and he had never once treated the man like anything other than his father.

"Pleeeaaase?!" Grace repeated the plea Ethan had made to her several times before and she couldn't help but choke back a sob.

She had come to love the girl like her very own and while she knew she wasn't a replacement for her own daughter, she had filled that void with ease.

"Yes, please. It's been long enough." Ariel's tone was joking, yet not, and she could see the playful annoyance in her eyes.

The teen had come so far in the two years she had been with them and Leanne was proud to call her hers, especially after everything they had been through to get her.

"I love you." Ethan whispered softly, his eyes misting over as he looked up at her. "I love you and I love our kids and that's never gonna change. I wanna marry you and make you my wife and spend the rest of my life with you by my side."

His words hit her right in the core and she sucked back a shocked grumble as she blinked, doing her best to will the tears from her eyes.

She knew the right answer was 'yes'.

She knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him and their children.

And if she was being honest, she had known it since he had pulled her broken body from the front seat of that car all those years ago.

"Yes." She whispered back, her eyes filling with more tears as she watched him break into the biggest smile she had ever seen. "Yes."

She wanted to keep saying it.

She wanted to repeat it every day until she died.

She never wanted to stop telling him 'yes'.

“Are you sure?” She totally understood his wanting to make sure.

“I've never been more sure of anything.” And she hadn't. He was her best-friend, her better half, and she was nothing without him.

“Yes?” He was so excited that she couldn't help but laugh at the glimmer in his eyes.

“Yes.” She nodded her head as he took her left hand, sliding the ring onto the appropriate finger with a smile.

“Kiss! Kiss!” Eli and Grace were quick to pipe in with their thoughts and she watched as Ethan rose from his spot and pulled her close.

His lips crashed against hers just as the kids clapped their hands together excitedly. 

Her heart felt like it was going to explode in her chest and she let out a soft whimper against his lips.

It may have taken him five tries and three years, but she had finally said ‘yes’.

And she couldn't be happier.


End file.
